A variety of brewing or beverage making methods or systems have been developed which utilize methods of distributing water over a brewing substance or combining water or other ingredients with beverage producing ingredients. In some processes, water is controllably dispensed over the brewing substance during the production of a beverage.
In various beverage brewing systems and in particular brewing systems, a charge of brewing substance is used in conjunction with pressurized brewing. Such pressurized brewing is often referred to as “espresso” brewing. Espresso brewing uses a relatively small charge of ground coffee or other brewing substance for use in a confined brewing chamber. The brewing substance is compacted to a desired degree and then infused with pressurized water. Compaction of the brewing substance and infusion with the pressurized brewing water requires a sealed brewing chamber to facilitate proper brewing.
The beverage product produced in an espresso brewing process is referred to as “Espresso.” Espresso tends to be a thicker beverage compared to drip-style, French press, cone or other unpressurized brewing processes. Espresso tends to have a higher percentage of solubles and particulate matter and tends to be relatively viscous or “syrupy.”
An alternative beverage product, such as a diluted-brewed beverage or an “Americano” may be produced in conjunction with an espresso brewing process, as well. When producing an Americano-style beverage, for example, Espresso is produced and dispensed into a receiving apparatus, such as a cup, and then additional hot water is dispensed into the receiving apparatus to dilute the Espresso beverage. Thus, Americano beverages are a diluted form of espresso and can be produced by using an espresso brewing machine. Other forms of diluted-brewed beverages may also be similarly produced.
A variety of espresso-brewing machines are available ranging from manual, semi-automatic, to fully automatic. Fully automatic machines may include a control interface which allows a user to select a type of drink, a type of bean, quantity of Espresso/Americano/other diluted-brewed beverage to be produced, and perhaps other characteristics. The fully automatic machine may include bean hoppers which may automatically deliver beans to a grinder and then dispense the ground coffee into a pressurized brewing chamber. Infusion with heated, pressurized water is automatically controlled by the machine after activation by the operator. At the conclusion of the brewing process a puck of spent, drained but moist, brewing substance may be automatically removed from the brewing chamber and transferred to a waste collection container for subsequent removal. For Americano production, heated water is added to the Espresso after the Espresso is dispensed into the receiving apparatus.